Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction: Is It Real? [OPINION]

Could too much porn viewing lead to sexual problems in real life? One writer has some thoughts on what the images on the screen do to the thoughts in our head.

Gone are the days when it was only men over forty using pills such as Viagra or Cialis to aid them in the bedroom. Today, sex is everywhere—on television, online and in the palm of our hands on smartphones—and sadly, the condition known as erectile dysfunction is hitting the younger generations like a stiff, wooden baseball bat—which is ironic given their limp genitalia.

Unlike older men who experience the problem mainly due to physical reasons the difficulty for these youngsters lies in their own minds, being a full on mental problem that is all but easy to kick. More and more studies are cropping up explaining that men in their 20s are seeking out pills to help in their performance. So why is this problem occurring? Why is it on the rise? Well, if you ask some it’s a mere case of performance anxiety. However, if you ask others the answer could be slightly different and a bit more complex. There’s a current argument that the mind of today’s man is infested with that ever-widening and ever-addicting phenomenon known as online pornography. And when they reach a certain point that’s all they can handle. Ergo, normal everyday sex seems banal and dull.

Don’t lie; you’ve at least seen one video already today, right? Let’s be honest, who hasn’t? It’s easily accessible, usually a turn on—depending on the type you’re looking up—and perhaps best of all, it’s free. You can type in nearly any word into the Google Image search engine, turn off the safe search and find some sort of pornographic image. And unlike the men over forty ingesting penis pills, the younger generation grew up with the Internet. They know how to use it and how to abuse it. So while back in the day the nights of teenage and young twenty-something guys were filled with TV and the occasional phone call, nowadays they are consumed with the Internet, sexting and inevitably online porn. When the temptations are right at their fingertips in the form of pictures, movies and what is increasingly popular today, online “camming,” it’s no wonder how different a feeling it is when there is a real woman in the room with them.

We are a sexually driven society, whether we let others see it or not. In most cases the person we allow others to see face-to-face is not the same as the one in the bed or computer chair later that night. People are experimenting more than ever, seeing where they find themselves within the realm of human sexuality. Enter online porn: the types offered to us today are much different than years ago. Without going into detail on the amount and/or categories of the art, let’s just agree that whatever you’re thinking of trying or getting into sexually, someone else somewhere has ultimately done it and posted it online.

And so as the modern man [or boy] opens that browser, heads to that site and clicks on that video, he is unknowingly injecting his brain with a false sense of reality, one that can only lead to a terrifying outcome: embarrassment. When they are soon faced with the unfortunate truth that real sex is not porn sex, his penis lays flaccid staring him in the face asking, “What am I supposed to be doing? Whatever this is it is not what I’m used to. Get me some help!”

With that one moment of impotence their search for a performance booster initiates, never thinking that the intensely exaggerated, rough and over-the-top orgasm videos have anything to do with it.

As with everything in life, moderation is KEY.

Kyle Dowling is a writer based in New York City. Once an intern at Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Kyle’s work has been in Penthouse, Playboy, The Atlantic and several other print and online publications. Kyle is involved as a producer on a one-hour scripted television series in development. You can find all of his published work and more on his website.

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